Sarabi
|actress = Gina Breedlove (musical; debut) |inspiration = Queen Gertrude from Hamlet Queen Aeoleon from Coming to America |alias = Queen Sarabi Mom, Mother (by Simba) |personality = Strong, wise, brave, kind, loving, careful, playful, motherly, dignified |appearance = Slender lioness, beige fur, cream muzzle, underbelly, paws and eye patches, salmon nose, black tipped ears, black eyebrows, dark eyelids, orange eyes |occupation = Queen of the Pride Lands (formerly) |alignment = Good |home = Pride Rock; Pride Lands |family = |friends = Mufasa, Simba, Nala, Sarafina, Zazu, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Pridelanders |minions = Zazu, Pridelanders |enemies = Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, Hyena Clan |likes = Her family |dislikes = Scar's leadership, hyenas |powers = Strength, roars, hunting skills |weapons = Teeth, claws |fate = Descends from the throne as her son, Simba claims his rightful place as the king of the Pride Lands |quote = "So, what is this really cool' place?" "If you were half the king Mufasa was, you would—"}}Sarabi is a lioness who is queen of the Pride Lands in Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King. She is Mufasa's mate (later widow) and Simba's mother. Background As the queen of Pride Rock, she is shown to be in charge of the lionesses and their hunting parties. She is depicted as being wise, courageous and strong, but gentle and humorous at the same time. Personality Sarabi is described as a supportive mother and queen. Throughout Mufasa's reign, she displays herself as being a fierce encouragement to her family, viewing her son Simba's presentation with pride and later motivating him to learn kingly duties from his father. Unlike Mufasa, who is gentle but firm in his guidance, Sarabi is softer, shown to be especially affectionate when dealing with her son, whom she is especially patient with. Not only is Sarabi gentle and soft-spoken, but she is also a doting mother who is not afraid to tease. Through her son's many kiddish complaints, she keeps a smile on her face, proving herself willing to embarrass him if she believes that she is serving his best interests. Despite her joking nature, Sarabi is wise enough to keep her family safe, willing to put barriers on Simba in order to keep him from harming himself and his friends. Her easygoing approach to parenting is not of an overly lenient nature but strict enough to keep Simba on the right track, rendering her just as protective of her son as Mufasa. When faced with Scar, an overbearing and unfair leader, Sarabi keeps her head held high, unaffected by the intimidating presence of her abounding enemies. Even when blamed for problems that are not her fault, Sarabi keeps her temper, remaining fair by refusing to take the blame for Scar's doings. She even goes so far as to suggest something radical for the good of her pride. Though her temper typically remains cool and under control, she does let angry words fly when Scar refuses to take action in order to save his pride. In her rage, Sarabi reveals herself to be defiant and sharp-tongued, able to expertly hit Scar's weakness by comparing him to Mufasa. Sarabi proves herself to be a fierce fighter, being the second lioness to leap into battle after Scar's admittance to killing Mufasa. A seeker of justice, Sarabi fights for the rightful ruler of the Pride Lands and proudly accepts Simba as her new king. Appearances ''The Lion King Sarabi is first seen with the infant Simba, at Simba's presentation, and watches as the sun shine down upon the new prince and illuminates the kingdom. She later makes an appearance when an excited Simba awakens his parents before dawn. She wryly tells Mufasa that his son is awake, while Mufasa responds that Simba is Sarabi's son before sunrise. She then watches with a smile on her face as Simba is led to the summit of Pride Rock by his father to be shown his future. She appears to be friends with Sarafina the mother of Nala, as her next appearance is with them, sleeping on a rock when Simba arrives to convince Nala to accompany him to an elephant graveyard that his uncle told him about, but waking up and snatching her son before he can escape from his bath. She is shown to be quite intuitive. Knowing that her son was possibly up to mischief when Simba and Nala wanted to go to the "waterhole," she sends Zazu along with them to keep watch for any danger. When Scar informs them of the death of Mufasa and Simba, Sarabi is nothing short of devastated at her status as a widow and losing her only child as Zazu makes a vain attempt to comfort her. Left destitute, she can do nothing but watch in horror as Scar allows the hyenas to overrun the Pride Lands after giving his oath to protect everyone. In reality, the hyenas serve as Scar's strength as king. Many years later, after the Pride Lands have been destroyed, the lionesses lose faith in the new king, though it is unclear whether or not Sarabi still serves as queen. Even the hyenas lose faith spending time bugging Scar who lives his life laying on his bed doing stuff and throwing tantrums when nobody obeys him or when he does not get what he wants. It has become clear that the lionesses, including Sarabi, now have a dislike for Scar. One day, Scar furiously summons Sarabi, who strides past the hyenas with her nose in the air, refusing to allow them to intimidate her even as they snap and snarl at her heels. Scar demands to know why there is no hunting taking place. Sarabi informs him the herds have moved on due to the drought and that if the pride is to survive, they must leave as well. Sarabi is angered at Scar's refusal, because it essentially sentences them to death, and begins telling Scar that he is less than half the king Mufasa was. Before she can finish her statement, Scar strikes her in anger, knocking the old queen to the ground. When Simba appears from the shadows, she mistakes him for Mufasa at first. However, she is overjoyed when Simba identifies himself, though she is confused as to how he survived. As Simba confronts his uncle, Nala arrives with the remaining lionesses to support Simba, while Sarabi is helped to her feet by Sarafina and another lioness. When Scar forces Simba to reveal his belief that he killed his father, Sarabi is shocked into disbelief and begs Simba to tell her it can't be true. However, she is shocked when Simba recovers from his uncle's attempt to execute him, pins the now terrified Scar to the ground, and snarls "MURDERER!" Threatened with being strangled to death by Simba if he doesn't confess, Scar reveals the truth of the matter that he was the real murderer of Mufasa, and Nala is the only lioness faster than Sarabi into the fray against Scar and his minions, with Sarabi fighting furiously to avenge her murdered mate and devastated kingdom. She watches on proudly after her son defeats his tyrannical uncle and assumes the throne of Pride Rock, roaring with him as he announces his status as the rightful king. Though she is not seen in the end, she is likely present at her new grandchild's presentation. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride In the sequel, she was originally going to have lines, but her voice actress Madge Sinclair passed away before the film's production, as well as her having no purpose to the story, but she makes a possible cameo without lines as her granddaughter Kiara walks to be granted permission to go on her first hunt, she is one of the lionesses. It's likely that she was present during Kovu's exile, as she could be one of the lionesses who blocks Kiara from stopping the banishment of one of the lionesses who growl at Kovu. It is also possible that she fought in the final battle, though due to her age it would be unlikely. Despite her absence, she is the paternal grandmother to Kiara. Whether or not she died after Simba became King is unknown, as well as when or if she died at all. The Lion King 1½ Sarabi is only shown in one scene where she stands alongside Mufasa during the part where Timon and Pumbaa explore Pride Rock. Though when the screen is moved to the top of Pride Rock, Zazu is there instead of Sarabi. Unlike in the first film, Sarabi has no dialogue and therefore is not animated throughout the film. Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety Sarabi makes a cameo appearance in the episode "Safety Smart Goes Green", where she arrives to claim back baby Simba after Timon uses him as an example of a CFL (which Timon though was short for cute fluffy lion cub, but is really a lightbulb). The Lion Guard Much like the sequel film, Sarabi does not appear due to her voice actress Madge Sinclair's death. However, it is known that Sarabi is the paternal grandmother to Kion, the son of Simba and Nala. Sarabi makes a cameo appearance in a cave painting in the Lair of the Lion Guard in "Cave of Secrets". [[The Lion King (2019 film)|''The Lion King (2019)]] .]] Sarabi appears in the 2019 remake, voiced by Alfre Woodard. She is first seen during the musical number "Circle of Life" where she and her mate Mufasa present their newborn cub Simba. She later appears during the part where Simba meets Nala for the first time in which before Simba can go with Nala, Sarabi gives him a bath. After short bath, Simba asks his best friend Nala to know if he could go to the water hole, but Sarabi tells the two that they need Zazu to assist the two in case danger happens with the cubs. Later after Simba is banished, Sarabi is seen among the mourning lionesses when Scar explains that Mufasa and Simba died together as he takes over as king with the Pridelanders noticing the hyenas invading the Pride Lands to turn it into a deserted wasteland. Later after Zazu is banished by Scar, he secretly sends messages to Sarabi, as he sneaks into Pride Rock, telling the lionesses about the bad news in the decimated Pride Lands where she tells Nala to get used to Pride Rock with Scar as the new king much to Nala's refusal just as Shenzi arrives to the conversation between her and Nala to take Sarabi to see Scar. Also, Scar mentioned that in the past, he wanted her as his mate, but she rejected him and chose Mufasa instead. Upon seeing Scar delivering an oryx carcass, he then tried to win her over and convince her to be his queen, but she kept rejecting him because she tells Scar that he is destroying the Pride Lands and the Circle of Life by overhunting. This did not happen in the original film, but in an earlier concept, Scar tried in similar way convince Nala, instead of Sarabi, to be his queen, only to be rejected. As a result, Scar allows the hyenas to eat first before the lionesses, much to Sarabi's worry. Later when Nala escapes Pride Rock with the help from Zazu, Sarabi watches over Nala's escape in worry. Sarabi is later seen during the climax of the film where Scar wants Sarabi to be his queen again but Sarabi rejects his offer once again and tells him he's nothing compared to Mufasa, causing Scar to attack her. Upon seeing Scar attacking her, Simba confronts him in trying to defend his mother. Hearing Sarabi thinking Mufasa came back and Simba explains to her it is him who returned, Sarabi then sides with Nala who leads the lionesses to prepare for battle against Scar. Later after Simba gets himself back on Pride Rock, Scar explains to the Pridelanders that Simba killed Mufasa and now wants to kill him. After Sarabi listens to Simba fighting his uncle who left Mufasa to die, Sarabi explains to Scar that he lied to the lionesses that Simba died along with Mufasa and only Mufasa died as Scar did not return to the gorge in time while Simba calls his uncle a murderer. As the hyenas attack Simba under Scar's command, Sarabi and the other lionesses lead by Nala attack the hyenas in which after Scar's death, the Pridelanders' victory over Scar was successful. Sarabi is later seen among the other Pridelanders who are proud of Simba who saved the Pride Lands from Scar as Simba becomes the new king of the Pride Lands. Relationships Family Mufasa Mufasa is Sarabi's mate. Sarabi cares a lot about for her mate. Sarabi got mad when Scar told everyone that he killed Mufasa. Simba Sarabi is Simba's mother, as well as the queen of the Pride Lands. Sarabi and Simba have a loving mother-son relationship, she was proud of her son, and like Mufasa, tried to teach him proper conduct and groomed him for his future as the king. She was also protective of him, ensuring that Simba didn't run off to where he could get himself into trouble. When Scar claimed that Simba died alongside Mufasa in the wildebeest stampede, she was heartbroken. Years later, when Simba arrived to save his home, he watched in horror as Scar berated his mother. When Scar struck her down in a fit of rage, Simba immediately came to her defense and comforted her. Sarabi is elated to see her son is still alive and fights by his side to overthrow Scar's tyranny. Nala Nala knew Sarabi since she was cub because she was friends with Simba. Nala helps Sarabi and Simba fight Scar. Kiara Kiara is Sarabi's granddaughter, although the two never interacted with each other. Kion Kion is Sarabi's grandson, although the two never interacted with each other. Friends Sarafina Sarabi is in good conditions with Nala's mother. When Simba is talking to Nala about going to the water hole, her mother thinks if it is good to which she agrees with her to which Sarabi tells Simba that he and Nala can only go if Zazu goes with them to protect them from danger. Zazu Zazu and Sarabi are good friends. Sarabi tells Zazu to go with Simba and Nala to the Watering Hole, much to Simba and Nala's disgust. Zazu works with her mate Mufasa. He gives them the morning report. Timon and Pumbaa Sarabi is good friends with Timon and Pumbaa. They help fight Scar in the final battle. Enemies Scar Sarabi hates Scar since he killed Mufasa her mate. Not only that Scar did his tyranny actions against Sarabi's mate, but he also didn't let them leave the Pride Lands when there was nothing to eat. Sarabi helps Simba fight him in the final battle to which the final battle was succesful. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed and Hyena Clan Sarabi not only hates Scar for his tyranny but also hates the plan Scar did to rule the Pride Lands by bringing in a hyena clan to decimate the natural habitat of the Pridelanders by overhunting. Gallery Trivia *"Sarabi" means "mirage" in Swahili. *Sarabi's voice actress Madge Sinclair and Mufasa's voice actor James Earl Jones have played African Queen Aeoleon and King Jaffe in Coming to America, which was released six years prior to The Lion King. In both films, Jones and Sinclair's characters were both king and queen of an African country and the parents of their films' protagonists (Akeem for Aeoleon and Jaffe, Simba for Mufasa and Sarabi). *Her granddaughter Kiara bears a striking resemblance to her. *According to a 1993 script to The Lion King, Sarabi was meant to be present at Simba and Nala's cub's presentation at the end of the film. *In the early drafts of the film, Sarabi had three sisters named Naanda, Diku, and Dwala. She would also have been Nala's aunt due to the latter being Naanda's daughter. However, Nala's relationship with Simba would have been considered as incest. Because of this, Naanda became Sarafina and was Sarabi's friend rather than her sister whilst Diku and Dwala were written out. References es:Sarabi fr:Sarabi it:Sarabi nl:Sarabi pl:Sarabi pt:Sarabi pt-br:Sarabi ru:Сараби Category:The Lion King characters Category:Females Category:Disney characters Category:Queens Category:Characters Category:Royalty Category:Lions Category:Lovers Category:African characters Category:Parents Category:Grandparents Category:Adults Category:Widows/Widowers Category:Heroines Category:Animated characters Category:Characters in the Disney animated features canon Category:Disney Crossy Road characters Category:Elderly characters Category:Characters in video games Category:The Lion Guard characters